1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a broadband communication system, and is more particularly related to classification of data traffic for transmission over a packet switched network.
2. Discussion of the Background
As society, in general, becomes increasingly reliant on communication networks to conduct a variety of activities, ranging from business transactions to personal entertainment, communication engineers continually face the challenges of optimizing network services and ensuring network availability to a diverse set of users with varying traffic requirements. Because service requirements of different users, for that matter of the same users, can fluctuate depending on time of day and applications, the accuracy of traffic forecasts is diminished. Inaccurate forecasts can lead to negative effects, such as traffic congestion, slow response times, or even loss of data. The maturity of electronic commerce and acceptance of the Internet as a daily tool by millions of users (this user base continues to grow) only intensifies the need to develop network services that can dynamically adapt to user needs. With the advances in processing power of desktop computers, the average user has grown accustomed to sophisticated multimedia applications, which place tremendous strain on network resources (e.g., switch capacity). Also, because the decrease in application response time is a direct result of the increased processor performance, the user has grown less tolerant of network delays, demanding comparable improvements in the network infrastructure. Therefore, efficient use of network capacity is imperative, particularly in systems where capacity needs to be managed carefully, such as a satellite network.
Satellite communications systems have emerged as an accessible and reliable network infrastructure that can support the exchange of voice, video, and data traffic. Conventionally, these satellite communications systems offer dedicated communication channels that relay or tunnel traffic without processing such traffic (i.e., “bent pipe”). That is, the system has no knowledge of what types of protocols are used or data that is contained within the packets. One drawback with some of these satellite communications systems is that they are highly inefficient with respect to bandwidth allocation. For example, if the satellite has excess transponder bandwidth at a particular time, this excess capacity cannot be temporality reallocated to another satellite terminal (ST). Another drawback is that the latencies involved in satellite communications point towards special treatment of key networking functions, such as flow control and congestion controland how the system to adapts to the different types of traffic that are received at the STs.
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need for improved approaches for processing of data traffic within the terminals of a satellite communications system.
There is also a need to enhance efficient utilization of the system capacity.
There is also a need to reduce response time associated with various applications.
Based on the need to improve system efficiency, an approach for classifying traffic for efficient transmission over a satellite network is highly desirable.